Restore Mass Picket; Restore Mass Picket: Black Grunwick!

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Since the sell-outs of "Black Friday" July 29, on which the trade union bureaucracy set out to defuse the situation by sabotaging the blacking of mail and calling off political independence of the Grunwick strikers from their own bureaucracies.

This is exemplified in the reorganisation of the APEX/TGWU strike committee around more militant members on Friday S, and in tightening up the picketing arrangements.

As the Desoutter strike reaches its 15th week it is becoming clear that the determination of the strikers is being continually sabotaged by the inaction of the AUEW From District Committee to Executive Committee, efforts are being made to stifle calls from a number of branches, including Sembley and East Acton, for national blacking of Desoutter tools and for the union to give more than the miserable £9 a week strike pay.

The question is-what has happened to these motions? Members of the District Committee insist that motions were passed six weeks ago and urged that the Execative Committee support them.

However Jim Swift, District Secretary refuses to give a straight answer on the fate of these resolations.

He says that it is tactically better Bot to ask the Executive to call a national black because if it votes against them the limited unofficial blacking will end It emains unclear as to whether le tas to marded this motion to the :: *hetner he ever The hostilty of the Stalinist Darnet Committee leadership to The Cricklewood postmen, too, have shown their independence by unanimously rejecting the threats of UPW Deputy General Secretary Norman Stagg to withold hardship fund money if they refused to sign the document implicitly binding them to handle Grunwick mail.

Any illusions that full time officials like TGWU London Regional Secretary Ron Todd would win this dispute have been rudely shattered.

A mere 24 hours after the Region 1 Committee responded to a lobby and endorsed demands the strikers was clear meeting.

When convenor Jim Black called for a district levy to support the strikers Brother G. Anthony in the chair launched a vicious attack on this call.

When challenged after the meeting about what the strikers should do about money he said:

"You will just have to stick it out".

One striker commented:

"If we are fighting to get the AUEW recognised inside Desoutters and this is all the support the AUEW leadership can offer us, it is about time we kicked out these leaders who refuse to put up a fight for union recognition."

Even when a delegate from Chiswick Works protested that his branch had called for a levy, Anthony wouldn't put it to the vote and closed the meeting.

The same attitude was witnessed on the lobby of the Executive.

Scanion's arrogance and his contempt for the members who pay his wages was clear to the strikers when a delegation attempted to lobby him before an EC meeting.

BLACKING He refused to allow a striker into the meeting to put their case and would not commit himself to any of the demands about blacking and finance.

Strikers went to the Grunwick mass picket on August 8 and appealed for support and donations. The enthusiastic response yielded £120.50 and promises of blacking from factories all round the country many of which were unaware of the Desoutter strike.

The strikers are determined to fight on for full union recognition. At the time of going to press the management has stated that all workers "could be union members if they wished" but that negotiations and decisions would be for support on the August 8 mass picket, the Committee changed their decision.

Todd then circulated every TGWU, branch in London telling them to stay away on that day.

The TGWU drivers have learned over the last two weeks that the only way to win this strike is to carry on an independent fight in the union for support on the picket and the implementation by the trade union movement of national blacking on supplies and services to Grunwicks.

The drivers have responded this week by addressing meetings of trade unionists for support on their own initiative.

The question of principled leadership is central at this point.

A clear policy must le taken by the strike committee to the SE TUC and TGWU Region 1 meeting on August 23.

This must condemn the intimidation of strikers by both Grantham and Stagg and demand the repudiation of Todd's sell out.

It must. demand a full restoration of the mass picketing from August 22 onwards and the full immediate implementation of TUC policy for total blacking of Grunwicks supplies and services.

carried out by the tame works com mittee and the union could not organise nor represent members.

This is clearly unacceptable.

The fight must be taken back into the AUEW and this hierarchy either forced to defend the right to organise or be kicked out.

Don't let the Desoutters strike be overshadowed by the Grunwick dispute. Cash and cheques should be rushed to Barry Marony, 27, Springfield Mount; Kingsbury, London NW9.

All supporters should take part the mass picket every Thursday Only four candidates have submitted election adresses in the coming election for the Presidency of the AUEW.

The right wing candidate is Terry Duffy: the Broad Left candidate is Bob Wright (who has supported all the right wing actions the Executive); and SWP candidate lan Morris has submitted a reformist programme of a 35-hour week and opposition to the Social Contract on a programme very little different from those the Broad Left used to have.

Only WRP candidate Alan Wilkins has a programme which includes a "sliding scale of working hours" and "threshold rises"

Whilst we have differences with the WRP and the way the programme is presented. we call on our supporters to vote for Wilkins. Strikers

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the August 8 mass picket, there has been a strengthening of the